- I need clarity and headphones that don’t hide my mixing sins
- Going from closed to open back is a huge improvement
- However, open headphones and voice recording don’t mix well.
One of the best things about being an adult is that you don’t have to ask Santa for Christmas presents: you can just buy them for yourself. And that’s exactly what I did with my latest audio upgrade. As an end-of-year gift, I just upgraded my work headphones to the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro – and I’m glad I did.
I already had Beyerdynamic headphones, the DT770 Pro. I use them for recording music and for mixing, and they are very good. But the DT990 Pros are even better, because they are open. It makes a huge difference to making music and listening to it too.
As someone who writes about music and reviews audio gear, I’m a bit spoiled: I have headphones on hand to review that cost more than 10 times the price of my Christmas present, so I have no shortage of good sound options.
But the best headphones aren’t necessarily the fanciest or most expensive: they’re the ones that do what you want them to do for the price you want to pay. And the price I wanted to pay was well under £200/$200.
What’s so great about the DT990 Pro?
Don’t get me wrong. The DT770 Pro is a very good headphone, which is why it is a popular choice among musicians and producers. But even though they and the DT990 are sonically similar, switching from closed to open model makes a huge difference in terms of the soundstage, which seems wider and more detailed.
When you’re listening to your mix critically, this is really helpful, because it allows you to spot things that other headphones may be hiding.
The other big difference I noticed is comfort. My previous Beyerdynamics are great, but the DT990 Pros are better. They feel slightly looser (many headphones feel quite tight on me since I have a head the size of a planet) and the earcups are softer. I’ve already done a few very long days with the new headphones and almost forgot I was wearing them.
The big downside to music is that the closed-back headphones leak, and since I listen quite loudly, they leak a little. plot. This makes it a poor choice for recording vocals, as everything you hear goes straight back into the mic. But I already have the solution to this problem: I simply swap them for the DT770s when I record vocals.
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